Researchers from Columbia University and elsewhere have found evidence Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, officially known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), is a biological illness. The researchers used data from two studies comprised of a total of 298 ME/CFS patients and 348 healthy controls to find 51 immune biomarkers in blood plasma samples that identify biological patterns related to the illness. Symptoms forRead more

University of Florida researchers have confirmed the presence of a deadly parasite in three non-native species of snails that have colonized South Florida. The parasite, rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis), is a tiny worm that can sicken humans and animals including horses, dogs and birds. The study that confirmed the parasite's presence in three of five tested snail species, was promptedRead more

On one side of the Atlantic is one of the driest splotches of land on Earth. On the other side is one of the wettest and most fertile. Despite the miles of open ocean separating the Sahara and Amazon, the two locales do share a commonality -- nutrient-rich dust. As a new simulation by engineers at NASA reveals massive cloudsRead more

Before the Amazon River formed as we know it today, some 10.5 million years ago, water in the Amazon basin flowed northward to the Caribbean. Instead of thick rainforest, the habitat was a massive wetland system -- a system researchers say was dominated by crocodiles. Some 13 million years ago, northeastern Peru hosted seven species of crocodiles, a diverse co-existingRead more

In the 14th century, Black Death spread across Europe and central Asia, killing nearly half of the western continent's population. Until now, black rats have shouldered much of the blame, but new research suggests giant gerbils of central Asia may have played a larger role in transporting the disease. Researchers at Norway's University of Oslo recently looked at tree ringsRead more

A new study revealed a reward-related neural circuit that specifically controls compulsive sugar consumption in mice without preventing feeding necessary for survival, providing a novel target for the safe and effective treatment of compulsive overeating in humans. Compulsive overeating and sugar addiction are major threats to human health, but potential treatments face the risk of impairing normal feeding behaviors thatRead more

Doctors are fingering a lack of sleep as at least partially responsible for a growing number of physical and psychological ailments. Diabetes is one of those ailments. In a new study, researchers show how a lack of sleep can encourage pre-diabetic conditions in otherwise healthy young men. Specifically, researchers found that a persistent lack of sleep promoted increased fatty acidRead more

A new study claims exposing children to peanuts at a young age could greatly reduce their chances of having a peanut allergy later in life. The study looked at 600 infants who were at a high risk for having a peanut allergy, between the ages of 4 and 11 months old. Some parents were instructed to give their child noRead more

Low levels of 25-OH vitamin D in childhood were associated with subclinical atherosclerosis over 25 years later in adulthood, a new study showed. According to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the importance of vitamin D for cardiovascular health has been the focus of increasing interest. Low levels of vitamin D haveRead more

Iranian researchers designed a biosensor to detect very small amount of glucose in urine sample. In addition to high detection power, the sensor has high repeatability, is quick and can be produced through a simple and cost-efficient method. The importance of diabetes disease has increased the necessity of exact measurement of glucose level in clinical diagnoses. The common method toRead more